5.  The applicant was born in 1966 and lives in Louko.
6.  The applicant had been unemployed since 13 November 1999 and had applied for unemployment benefit. On 28 September 2000 the Social Insurance Institution (Kansaneläkelaitos, Folkpensionsanstalten) decided to refuse benefit for the period from 4 September to 2 November 2000. According to section 9, subsection 1, of the Act on Unemployment Benefits (työttömyysturvalaki, lag om utkomstskydd för arbetslösa), if an unemployed person’s own behaviour has caused an employment contract not to be concluded, he or she has no right to unemployment benefit for two months. According to the Social Insurance Institution, the applicant’s own behaviour had meant that the intended employment contract, which was to last for more than five days, had not been concluded on 4 September 2000. As the applicant had not given a valid reason for not accepting the work offered to him, the benefit was refused.
7.  On 26 October 2000 the applicant appealed to the Unemployment Appeal Board (työttömyysturvalautakunta, arbetslöshetsnämnden), claiming that the Social Insurance Institution’s decision had been based on incorrect information. He claimed that he had spoken with the employer in September 2000 but that no starting date for the work had been agreed upon. He denied having at any point refused to accept the offered work. On the contrary, he claimed that in early September he had offered to take the job. In late September he had contacted the employer on two occasions but the employer had not yet decided who to employ. He claimed to have told the employer many times that he would be available for the job offered. The applicant requested that the Unemployment Appeal Board ask the employer to submit a written statement of his account of the facts.
8.  On 15 March 2001 the Unemployment Appeal Board rejected the appeal. It found that the applicant had not contacted the employer immediately after having heard that the employer had called him in early September and that, due to this delay, the employment contract could not be concluded. The unemployment benefit could thus be refused. It rejected the applicant’s request concerning the written statement as unnecessary.
9.  The applicant appealed to the Insurance Court (vakuutusoikeus, försäkringsdomstolen), reiterating his grounds and, in particular, pointing out that the case had not been adequately established as no written statement had been requested from the employer.
10.  On 5 September 2002 the Insurance Court quashed the Unemployment Appeal Board’s decision and referred the case back to it for a new examination. It found that in this case it was essential to find out what the employer and the applicant had agreed regarding the starting date and the modalities of the employment contract. The case had thus not been adequately established.
11.  On 5 December 2003 the Unemployment Appeal Board, after having acquired a written statement from the employer and a reply from the applicant, rejected the appeal. It found that the employer had called the applicant and that they had agreed to meet. The applicant had not come to the meeting and the employer had not been able to reach him by telephone. The employer had left a message for the applicant but he had been told that the applicant would be absent for a week. The unemployment benefit could thus be refused.
12.  On 14 January 2004 the applicant appealed to the Insurance Court requesting, inter alia, that an oral hearing be held in order to hear witnesses.
13.  On 2 June 2005 the Insurance Court, without holding an oral hearing, upheld the Unemployment Appeal Board’s decision. It found that an oral hearing was not necessary as it would not have added anything to what was already in the case file. As to the merits of the case, it found that the applicant should have contacted the employer immediately after having heard that he had tried to reach him in early September. Due to this delay, the employment contract could not be concluded and the unemployment subsidy could thus be refused.